Advances in computer network technologies continue to make sharing of information between systems increasingly efficient and affordable. Over the course of just a few short years, data transfer rates have increased from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps. And the number of possible users on a given dedicated network continues to grow. New transmission infrastructures have emerged including wireless networks. These and other advances have resulted in an increasing exploitation of networked systems in government and industry, for both commercial and personal applications. Nearly every business or agency which has a need for more than one computer also has a need to share information among its' various users. Today, an increasing number of homes are either wired for networks or employ wireless networks as the number of computers in a typical home continues to rise. And there is a proliferation of smaller networks being linked or bridged together to create larger networks; allowing people and systems at one location to seamlessly share information with people and systems at another location.
As the quantity, speed, and complexity of networked systems has increased, there has been a corresponding increase in network problems and an escalating need to efficiently resolve such problems. When network problems arise, whether they are on ControlNet, DeviceNet, Ethernet, Wireless applications, or whatever the latest networking protocols and/or configurations may be, information relating to activity on the network must be obtained in order to resolve the problem. This generally requires the introduction of a dedicated, stand-alone, diagnostic device to the network known as a network traffic analyzer. A network traffic analyzer obtains key information about network traffic parameters and is capable of capturing and recording such data to provide a permanent record of communications on the network bus. Network traffic analyzers are capable of being controlled to begin and/or end recording based on the presence of certain conditions. Traditionally, a network traffic analyzer is a separate, dedicated piece of support equipment. Network traffic analyzers are generally PC based and require specific network interface hardware and software modules to adapt to a particular network standard or configuration. Often the network must be analyzed and the diagnostic information collected while the network is being utilized by the customer in a live environment. Trouble-shooting network problems requires configuring a network traffic analyzer with an appropriate network interface module and associated software. The vast majority of network users do not own the support equipment comprising the network traffic analyzer, interface module and associated software necessary for diagnosing the network problems. Therefore, support personnel must assemble the proper resources and bring them to the customer's site. Once assembled, a trained operator must be given access to the network in order to collect the data necessary for analysis. If for information security or other reasons, support personnel are not allowed access to the customer's network, or are net permitted to monitor network activities in a live environment, then an attempt may be made to recreate or simulate the network problems, sometimes in a laboratory or other similar environment. Such efforts require the duplication of extensive amounts of hardware and software and often result in futile attempts to reproduce the problem: it may prove impossible to truly duplicate the environment required for the problem to manifest itself. In almost all cases these options are time consuming, inefficient, expensive and often are ineffective in resolving the networking problem.